Numerous connectors for flat cables have been developed. For example, reference may be made, e.g., to French Patent Application No. 2 618 263, filed on July 16, 1987, to U.S. patent application No. 4,773,878, filed July 2, 1987, and to French Patent No. 2 600 828, filed June 24, 1986.
It is generally observed that existing connectors basically allow connections at cable ends by ensuring nothing more than the coupling of low-voltage electrical connections with high contact quality.
Generally, therefore, these connectors are not morphologically adapted to flat metal-clad cables in which three conductors are stacked.
In fact, the recent creation of flat cables which incorporate printed circuit technology and which therefore comprise a stack of superposed conductive layers having slight thickness (typically 35 .mu.m) requires the development of a contact-reestablishment device which alters neither mechanically nor thermally the conductive pathways in the cable or their insulating support. This characteristic is not provided with complete assurance in conventional connectors, which are, moreover, necessarily bulky.
As a result, a new need has been created, since conventional coaxial cables incorporating a cylindrical section have been replaced by flat metal-clad cables comprising a stack of three conductors, of which one is a high-voltage conductor and the two others are low-voltage, equipotential connectors. The substitution of the new cables is intended, moreover, to reduce the bulkiness of high-voltage cables.